Understanding the ocean's changing chemistry

Ocean chemistry is changing faster right now than at any time over the past 50 million years. “We are fundamentally altering marine ecosystems,” says NOAA oceanographer Simone Alin, Ph.D. With her colleagues at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), Alin is responsible for monitoring the rapidly changing chemistry of seawater and understanding the ramifications for the world’s oceans, particularly the highly productive, fisheries-rich coastal waters off the west coast of North America.

Is too many mussels even possible?

Those not familiar with the Great Lakes freshwater coasts may wonder how a seemingly endless supply of mussels could possibly be a bad thing. After all, saltwater mussels considered a delicacy by many, is a common item found on your favorite restaurant’s menu. Unfortunately, the freshwater dreissenid mussel is not only an unwelcomed item on the menu, but also in North America’s freshwater waterways. These invasive mussels have very few natural predators to limit their numbers, so their populations continue to grow and spread, wreaking havoc on the Great Lakes food web.

Sharing a Passion for Alaska Coastal Resources

As director of the NOAA Auke Bay Laboratories in Juneau, Alaska, Phil Mundy is as passionate about his lab’s role in supporting stewardship of marine and coastal resources as he is about explaining the lab’s work to broader audiences.